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I 



THE FOUNDING 



OF THE 



EPISCOPAL CHURCH 



An Addkess 



Delivered November 29, A. D., 1894^, 

BY THE ^ 

REV. HORATIO OLIVER LADD, M. A. 
RECTOR OF TRINITY CHURCH, 
FISHKILL, N. Y. 

Published by Request. 



TIMES PillKT FISKKILL, 



/ 



Introductory Note 
By The Rt. Rey. Henry C. Potter, D.D., LL.D., 

Bishop of New York. 

Any man renders a substantial service to his 
fellows and to history who gathers the memor- 
ials of our parish Churches and preserves them 
in permanent form. My friend and brother, 
the present rector of Trinity Church, Fishkill, 
the Rev. Horatio O. Ladd, has done more than 
this; for he has grouped his materials with sin- 
gular felicity, and touched them all along, with 
the charm of a picturesque and interesting nar- 
rative. 

The period covered by these records is one of 
the most eventful in American history; and the 
planting and growth, amid manifold and grave 
obstacles, of the Church in Fishkill is a monu- 
ment of Providential ordering and of brave and 
unselfish service. Paul has planted and Apollos 
has watered, but God has given the increase, 
and to Him be all the glorv I 

H. C. P, 

Diocesan House, New York, 

Feast of Annunciation, A. 1895. 



11 



The following resolution, offered by the Rev. 
P. C. Creveling, was unanimousl}^ passed at a 
meeting of the Clericus of the Highlands, Jan- 
uar}^ the 15th, 1895. 

Whereas, it has been our privilege to listen 
this afternoon to the reading of a paper which 
deals largely with the early histor}^ of the Church 
in this diocese, particularly in that portion of 
the same whose ministers are members of this 
Clericus of the Highlands; and whereas, we ap- 
preciate its merits and reali'ze the importance of 
preserving and imparting such information as it 
contains, therefore be it resolved: 

That this Clericus respectfully ask of our 
brother the Rev. H. O. Ladd, his consent to the 
publication of his eSwSay, and that the Chairman 
of the meeting is hereb}^ instructed to appoint a 
committee of this body, of which the author shall 
be Chairman, to have the same printed and 
bound at the expense of this Association." 

Whereupon, the Chairman, the Rev. Arch- 
deacon Thomas, D. D., appointed the Rev. H. 
O. Ladd, A. T. Avshton, Thomas Burgess, Rufus 
Emery, Francis Washburn. 

L. R. Dickinson, Secretarv. 



Ill 



Trinity Rectory, Fishkill, N. Y., 

January 15, 1895. 

Dear Mr. Ladd, 

The Clericus of the Highlands has 
directed us to thank you for your excellent paper 
on the Founding of the Episcopal Church in 
Dutchess County, to which we have just listened 
with so much pleasure, and to ask that 3^ou allow 
us to publish it in pamphlet form. 

Very Sincerely Yours 
A. T. Ashton, 
Thomas Burgess, 
Rufus Emer3^ 
Francis W ashburn. 



IV 



Entered according to act of Congress 
in the year 1895, by H. O. Ladd, 
in the office of the Librarian of Congress, 
in Washington. 



OaVPlED-BY TiiE-HEW'YORK-PROViNClAL CONY£KTfOH 
. WHlCH-REHOYtD-FROM'WHtTE-PLAlHS SEPT 3 1776 / 
'ViSED-FOR-A-WfUTARY-HOSPITAL-BY-THE-ARMY / 
\ OF-vEN'WASH!HOTON-UHTiL-DlSBANDED , 
\ JUHE-2-i783 ■• 

\ <mo-DEO-ET-PATRiA / 
!7^fo i8Q4- 



Memorial Tablet, Erected 1894. 



The Anglican Catholic Church was first estab- 
lished in Dutchess County, in the Province of 
Xew York, by the founding of Trinity Church 
Fishkill, as declared by the historic tablet, the 
gift of James E. Dean, Esq., of Fishkill, N. Y., 
erected to-day over the door of this ancient edi- 
fice. 

Its inscription is the subject of this memorial 
address, which is a humble effort to fill in some 
measure the blank pages of the record of Trinity 
Church, for the first thirty years of which even 
the traditions of nearly one hundred and forty 
years in this community, have given no account. 
It aims to establish from several widely separated 
and remote sources certain interesting facts con- 
cerning the earliest and most trying years of 
Episcopacy in this vicinity, in which the Church 
was true to the principles of her faith and name. 

Early in the summer of 1755, a clergyman of 
the Church of England and a missionary of the 
Venerable Society for the Propagation of the 
Gospel in Foreign Parts, entered the village of 
Fishkill. He wore a three-cornered hat and 
small clothes and top-boots, and rode well a strong 
sorrel horse, with his saddle bags strapped to his 
saddle. He was about fifty years old, strongly 
built but not tall, and Lad a countenance which 
was intelligent and kindly, and bore the marks 



4 

of decision and firmness. He had come thus a 
distance of eighty miles, over the thickly wooded 
island of Manhattan, in a bad season for travel- 
ing, and over roads deep v*^ith mud. An entire 
stranger to this region, he Vv^ould probably have 
entered the village b}^ the old Post road, through 
Cold Spring gap, and as near the mountain, he 
turned his horse down this valley, we may look 
with his e3"es upon the few houses that in the 
year 1755 constituted this settlement past which 
he rode to his destination in its lower part. 

On his right was a house, long and low, 
but larged roofed, with a piazza. He may have 
stopped to ask about its owner, and been glad- 
dened b}^ the name^ familiar to him even in this 
distant mountain-girt valle}^; for Cornelius Van 
Wyck, who had built this mansion, had left St. 
George's parish in Hempstead, twent^^-two years 
before, in 1 733, had purchased 959 acres of land of 
Madame Brett, on the Cold Spring road, built 
this house, and was still here to welcome this 
missionary from his former townsmen in Long 
Island. He was under the roof of the since 
famous Wharton house, celebrated in Cooper's 
-Spy." 

The road then ran on close to the site of an- 
other house, where Richard Southard lived, and 
where, in a few 3^ears, Richard Rapelje, Esq., 
built his statelier home, the homestead afterward 
of Isaac E. Cotheal, Esq., and now of Mr. William 
T. Blodgett, all of whom, except Mr. Rapelje, 
are numbered among the faithful vestr3^men of 
Trinity Church. 



ousE OF Cornelius Vax Wvck. 



5 

Be3"ond the meadow, on the brow of this low 
plateau, on which Trinity Church stands, was 
the house of Robert Brett, son of Madame Brett, 
with a farm of 650 acres, extending to Osborn 
hill, on the north side of the main road. A little 
farm house stood on the present site of Trinit}^ 
Rectory. There was no other building till the 
traveler reached the old stone Dutch Reformed 
Church, which had been built twent3^-four years 
before, in 173 1. Near where now stands the house 
on the corner of the Wappingers Falls road and 
Main street, was the small house of Abraham 
Smith, long afterward the birth-place of the donor 
of the historical tablet we have erected to-day. 

Farther dowm, our missionar}^ passed a countr}^ 
tavern, on the vacant lot, where its successor, the 
Union Hotel, was burned, below the brick block 
of stores. He looked back and saw on the south 
side of Main street, onl}^ the Baxter house, op- 
posite the Dutch Reformed Church, now repre- 
sented b\^ the dwelling, at the corner of Broad 
and Main streets. Somewhere also, in the 
direction of Broad street, amid far extending 
acres, bordering on the farm lower down, which 
he was tr3ang to reach, a farmer named Rosa- 
cranze had his house. But as he rode on, this 
tired traveler saw where Stephen Purdy lived, 
opposite the lot on which the old brick bank 
now stands. Near by was a little school house, 
on the same side, and the store and house where 
now Isaac Car}^ resides. He could see also 
William Van Wyck's dwelling, on the east side 
of the road that led up that hill, the cutler's 



6 

shop of J. Baile3% on the north side of Alain 
street; and, perhaps, the house and tannery of a 
Dutchman named Tryce. Further down was 
the house of John Baile}^ the ancestor of H. D. B. 
Bailey, Esq., whose writings on old Fishkill and 
its romance are so entertaining and instructive. 

But on the east side of the road which turned 
south and ran into an older road, still traceable 
along Dingee Mountain, was the house of Jo- 
hanus, or Jacobus, and perhaps also of Henr}^ 
Terbus, where now is the mansion occupied by 
Lewis B. White, Esq. 

Here, our interested but perhaps wearied mis- 
sionary, in whose mind a thousand thoughts 
revolve prophetic of the events and scenes we 
present to-day, will probably pass the night, for he 
will be among friends, who have invited him 
to come into this little village of thirteen or four- 
teen dwellings only, besides a church, a tavern 
and a school house. 

But Fishkill was a township in the precinct 
of Rombout, which, as we shall find, was much 
more populous than this its central village would 
indicate. 

We have thus sketched the probable route and 
quite veritable impressions of the Reverend Sam- 
uel Seabury, M. A., on the first known mission- 
ary visit to Dutchess County of an Episcopally 
ordained clergyman. He has been invited here 
by Messrs. John Bailey and Thomas Langdon, 
Esquires, in their public character of Church 
Wardens. These were territorial parish officers 
appointed by the Governor, under the Vestry 



.„v-GvP From Old FoKTsNtAr. 
View in thk Vjai 



7 

act of 1683, in the Colon}^ of New York. But 
this invitation had been also at the request of a 
number of other persons in S3^mpath3^ with the 
Church of England. Some of them, like Mr. 
Cornelius Van W3^ck, had moved from Hemp- 
stead into Dutchess County as earty as 1732 or 
1733, and thus we can trace the influence that 
selected the reetor of that parish to found the 
first Episcopal Church in Dutchess Count}^ 

The histor}^ of Churches largely depends on 
the character of those who as the appointed min- 
isters of Jesus Christ establish them and instruct 
their members in the truth. Mr. Seabury was 
overshadowed somewhat by the more conspicu- 
ous life of his very distinguished son, the Rt. 
Rev. Samuel Seabury, D.D., of Connecticut, the 
first Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal church 
in the United States. It is appropriate, there- 
fore, that we give our attention to the life and 
work of the Bishop's father whose relation to 
the founding of the Church in Dutchess Count3^ 
has not been generally understood in this vicin- 
ity. 

The Rev. William H. Seabury, D. D., of New 
York, thus w^rites of his quite remote ancestor: 

''It is not so very remarkable that some con- 
fusion should be found in the later records of 
earlier days in your parish. Especiall}^, as the 
most conspicuous Samuel vSeabury was the 
Bishop, and the next most conspicuous was m}^ 
father. * * There is to-day an impression 
in some quarters that the present Rev. Seabury's 
name is Samuel, that he has been rector of the 



8 

Church of Annunciation for a half-century or so, 
and that he is the son of the Bishop, if not the 
Bishop himself. People remember a name in 
some connections, and the}^ sometimes uncon- 
sciousty overlook the lapse of time: and besides, 
the more eminent is apt to overshadow the ob- 
scure." 

Biographical Sketch. 

The Rev. Samuel Seabury's ancestors were of 
Portlake, Devonshire, England. He was born 
in Groton, Conn., in 1706. His grandfather was 
a noted phy sician and surgeon of Duxbury , Mass. , 
his father, John Seabury, a Congregational dea- 
con at New London, and his mother, Elizabeth 
Alden, was a grand daughter of John Alden, of 
the Ma3^flower. It was at a time when one could 
measure some disastrous results of the religious 
excitement brought about by the teaching of 
Whitfield and Tennant and others, that Mr. 
Seabur3^ while 3^et a 3^oung man, was licensed 
to preach by the Congregationalists. He was, 
however, never ordained by them as a preacher. 

About this time he married Abagail Mumford, 
who was the mother of Bishop Seabury, and died 
in 1 83 1. She was related to Dr. Mc Sparran, an 
Episcopal clergyman, and rector at Narragan- 
sett. Tower Hill, R. I., and b}^ him Mr. Sea- 
bur^^'s inclination to the Episcopal ministr}^ was 
strengthened. This had begun while Mr. Sea- 
bur}^ was at Yale College, during the angr}^ strife 
and confusion that arose over the announcement 
by Dr. Timoth}- Cutler, the President of the Col= 
Ifege. that he bad become a Ckurchman. 



9 

Mr. Seabur}^ in order to pursue his studies 
more quietty, transferred his connection to Har- 
vard College, where he graduated m 1724. In 
1730 he went to England for Hoh^ Orders, bear- 
ing a letter of commendation from the Rev. 
Dr. Cutler, then rector of Christ Church, Bos- 
ton, and the Secretar}^ of the Venerable vSoci- 
ety-y and also one from Dr. Mc Sparren. He is 
described in this recommendation b}^ Dr. Cutler 
as "a person who upon true and regular convic- 
tion, is come into the bosom of our excellent 
Church, and now humbh^ desires a mission from 
the Societ}" in her service." 

Dr. Mc Sparren wrote of him, Ma}^ 20, 1730. 
''Mr. Samuel Seabur}^ was educated at the Sem- 
inaries here, and did for some time preach to 
the Dissenters, b}^ whom he is well reported of 
for a virtuous conversation. He has for some- 
time past conformed to our Church, and mani- 
festing a desire of going upon the Societ3^'s mis- 
sion, I thought it became me to encourage a 
person of his merit b}^ recommending him to 
the Societ3^'s notice." 

Mr. Seabur}^ was ordained b}^ the Bishop of 
London, and on August 21, 1730, he received an 
appointment as missionar}^ of the Society to New 
London, Conn., opposite his native town of 
Groton. During a sta}^ of over a 3^ear in Eng- 
land, he preached some notable sermons, tAvo of 
which were printed and one is still preserved. 
Having received his second ordination as priest 
in 1 73 1, he returned to this countr}^ in 1732. 
For ten 3^ears -he was a diligent,- able and sue- 



JO 

cessful minister, as rector of St. James' Church, 
New London, showing in his sermons "a firm 
grasp of the subjects treated and a vigorous 
common sense." 

Mr. Seabur}" was called to the rectorship of 
St. George's Church, Hempstead, Queens County, 
L. I., in October, 1742, and was "inducted by 
mandate of the Hon. George Clark, Esq., Lieu- 
tenant Governor of said Province, December 10, 
1742, into personal and actual possession of the 
Parish Church of Hempstead; of all the Rights, 
Glebes, and Rector}^ thereunto belonging. On 
the 13th of Februar}^ 1743, he declared his 
unfeigned assent and consent to all and every- 
thing contained and' prescribed in and by the 
Book of Common Pra3^er, and Administration of 
the Sacraments, and the other Rites and Cere- 
monies of the Church, according to the Church 
of England, together w4th the Psalter and the 
Psalms of David, pointed as the}^ are to be sung 
or said in the Churches, and the form and man- 
ner of making, ordaining and consecrating of 
Bishops, Priests and Deacons." 

Thus Mr. Seabur}^ was not onl}^ a thorough 
Churchman, but he was also one whose minis- 
trations were ver}^ much esteemed. His services 
were sought for in all directions, and he improved 
ever}^ opportunity^ to extend the influence of the 
Church. He carried these into all parts of Queens 
Count}^ east of Jamaica. His congregation in- 
creased in numbers. He went to Huntington and 
to Oyster Bay at regular periods, extending his 
rides so that he could not return the same da,y. 



T I 

In 1746, he reported to the Venerable Societ}^: 
' ' I have baptized man}^ adults and a vast man}^ 
children since my mission at Hempstead, man}^ 
of whom have grown to A^ears to join in public 
worship. It is a genuine Vv^ork of charity to give 
them Pra3^er books." 

The adherents thus made to the Church, were 
for the most part, constant and steadfast, thotigh 
living in the wildest outbreak of religious en- 
thusiasm then caused by man}^ of Whitfield's 
followers. 

The Vestry of St. George's Church sent the 
Missionary Societ}^ a special letter of thanks for 
his appointment.'*'' It was to be expected amid 
so much intolerance and bitterness prevailing on 
religious matters, that Mr. Seabur}^ should be 
assailed. A preacher at Huntington declared 
that he was ' ' a destro3^er of souls and a hinderer 
of Christ's work." Mr. Seabur3^'srepty was gentle 
and forbearing. The man then challenged him 
to a public discussion of their different religiotis 
S3^stems. He replied, ' ' I have no leisure for con- 
troversy nor delight in it. M3" great desire is to 
prosecute the commission and command of our 
Lord as given in Luke 24:47. 'That repentance 
and remission of sins should be preached in His 
name among all nations.' " 

In one of his letters, Mr. Seabur3^ sa3^s : ' ' The 
Church in the Province of New York is to-da3^ 

* Samuel Seabary his son, afterward Bishop Seabury, was but 
fourteeo years old when his father took the parish at Hempstead, 
but in 174:8 he was training for his notable ministry, and though 
only nineteen years old, was appointed as catechist for Huntiogton. 



i 2 

ihilitant, being continualh^ attacked on one side 
or the other: sometimes b}^ the enemies of Rev- 
elation, at other times b}^ the wild enthusiasts, 
but in the midst of these, true religion gains 
ground," That Mr. Seabur3^'s work was not for 
mone}" so much as doing good in his Master's 
name, is evident from the fact that he received 
a salar}^ of but ^^o, from the Venerable Societ}^ 
And, though he had a rector}^, he was obliged 
from 1754 to 1763 to conduct in it a school for 
boarding pupils at an advertised rate of ^30 per 
annum. He had for a librar}^ a grant of ^10, and 
most gratef ulty records what seems strange to us, 
after the experience by our nation of the horrible 
effects of lotter}^ gambling for a hundred and fift}^ 
3' ears, that he had won $500 b}" a lotter}^ ticket, 
which was a common and laAvful investment in 
those da3^s. The rector3^ in which he dwelt, and 
wdiich was erected two 3^ears after he went to 
Hempstead, was in the st3de prevalent at that 
time in Long Island, a stor3^ and a half high in 
front, with a roof of a single pitch sloping down 
to one stor3^ in the rear. The ceilings were low 
both on the ground floor and above. There were 
fourroomxS w^th a hall between and a kitchen be- 
hind, and three or four rooms above. In this he 
lived with his famih^ consisting of his wife and 
seven children. 

This rector3^ cost ^74-58. — or less than $400. 
It was from such a parish and home and work 
that he had been invited to extend his mission- 
ar3^ labors into Dutchess Count3^ and had made 
the joume}^ in the late spring or summer of 1755. 



The First Service of Trinity Church. 
It will seem perhaps presuming on your faith 
in human veracity for me to tell 3^ou the story 
of the first service of our Church in Fishkill, 
one hundred and thirty -nine years ago, of which 
I believe, there has hitherto been no record or 
reliable tradition known by our citizens. But 
what I shall now tell you comes from so good an 
eye-witness and participant in them as this ven- 
erable man, whom I have thus set before you in 
some of his personal traits and history, and who 
was the founder of Episcopacy in Dutchess 
County. 

By that good Providence who brings good out 
of evil, there has been preserved an old pamph- 
let of eighteen printed pages, of which only two 
copies, and one of these an imperfect one, are 
known to exist. Happil}^ my inquiries have 
brought to light this forgotten publication, and 
from it I am able and permitted by the Rev- 
W illiam H. Seabury, D. D., the honored descend- 
ant of this godly man, with the aid of many other 
allusions to these events in other books and 
writings, to make a true and unquestionable 
narrative of the transactions so interesting and 
important to us who worship here in Fishkill, 
as inheritors ''of the faith once delivered to 
the saints." 

It so happened that an anonymous letter, of date 
April 19, 1 756 was published about 1758, making 
an acrimonious and abusive attack upon this mis- 
sionary rector of Hempstead, for his intrusions 
with liturgical services and the teachings of 



14 

the Church of England mto Dutchess Count}'. 
This drew out the good tempered but convincing 
repl}^ of the Rev. Samuel Seabur}^ Avhich was 
printed in 1759, under the title given here 
verbatim, with its tv^^i errors in printing: 

' ' A modest repty to a letter of a gentleman to 
his friend in Dutchess Count}^ lateh^ published 
b}^ an anon-i-mous writer. B3" Samuel Seabury, 
A. M., Missionar}^ from the Societ}^ for the 
Propagation of the Gospel in foreign parts. 

Est stulti accusare alterum p-a-ccati cujus 
ipse est conscius. Nevv^ York: printed in the 
year MDCCLIX." - 

The facts I take from the pamphlet are there 
given incidentalh^ not in any form of consec- 
utive narration. 

* Mr. Seabury in his pamphlet vigorously arraigns " the con- 
tontiou manifestly raised by a virulent spirit, gone forth and 
watching opportunities to strike some deadly blow, to wound and 
destroy if possible, the particular and general character of the 
missionaries, whose frequent attacks from hands known and un- 
known the missionaries have borne with a truly Christian meek- 
ness. If they do not however exert themselves with more than 
primitive zeal and industry, they are then represented contempti- 
ble and unworthy of notice. But if they exert themselves and by 
zeal and diligence, meekness, humility and charity draw the at- 
tention ot the public and thereby recommend the Church, they 
pursue the base designs of unnecessary separation and most un- 
christian contention in the land." The Honorable Society also is 
defended by the author against sucn attacks as a corporation 
not less ingenuous and open in their universal conduct than any 
corporation in Christendom, manifested in their submitting every 
transaction of their body to the examination of the Public." 

"Nor is it strange that the Honorable Society, composed of 
gentlemen, both clergy and laity, of the most refined taste and 
sentiments and well able to distinguish, should see the spirit and 
give themselves time to believe the clamor of this sort of writers: 
nor yet is there the least foundation for this base insinuation of 
the Society, who never fail making the most strict inquiry into 
every complaint of their missionaries: and this gentleman's charge 
against the Society can justly amount to no more than this, that 
they will not condemn their missionaries unheard upon the bare 
word of their accusers." 



15 

Judge Terbus with whom, because of his ev- 
ident prominence in receiving and aiding the 
missionar}^ we left Mr. Seabur}^ after his long 
journe}^, with the assurance that he probabty en- 
tertained him, was a man of note in this little 
village and in Rombout precinct. His brother 
Captain Henr}" Terbus, was the assessor of 
Dutchess Count}^ in the 3-ear 1752. We cannot 
dispute therefore the reliability^ of Mr. Seabury^'s 
printed statement that this Count}^ in 1755 had 
a population of about 10,000. It consisted of the 
precincts of Rombout, Poughkeepsie, Rhinebeck, 
North East, Crum Elbow, Beekman and Phillips, 
and extended fifty miles in length and twent}"^ 
in Avidth on the east side of the Hudson. 
The persons assessed in Romibout were 292, 
in Poughkeepsie 153, 
in half of Crum Elbow 190, 



635; 

one tenth of these being single 63, 

left heads of families 570, 
which at five each and the addition of 
the sixt3^-three single persons made 2913 
souls in the three precincts in vdiich it was pro- 
posed to establish this one Episcopal Church 
and missionar}^. For this population there Avere 
but three regular^ ordained and accepted min- 
isters of an}^ regular Christian bodA^ There Avas 
a PresbA^terian, whose meeting Avas not large and 
who AA^as meditating remoA'al on account of in- 
sufficiencA^ of support, an Anabaptist with a A^erA^ 



i6 

small following, and in 1758, a 3^oung gentleman, 
a candidate for the Dutch Church of Pough- 
keepsie and Rombout. 

These statements ma}^ well explain what seems 
incredible concerning the large congregation that 
on the Sunda}^ following his arrival gathered to 
the Episcopal service conducted b}^ Mr. Seabur3\ 
His coming had been made known in Rombout 
Precinct and probabh^ far beyond it. The house 
of Capt. Terbus was the appointed place of ser- 
vice. It was much crowded, though the Dutch 
minister, Rev. B. Me^mema, the second pastor 
of the Dutch Reformed Church of Fishkill, 
showed more than the usual courtes}^ of those 
times among Christians of the Province of 
New York. " He gave the use of his Church"[in 
the latter part of the da}^, but ' ' preached that 
same da}' at the Fishkills and continued long in 
the Church," having with true Dutch steadfast- 
ness to dut}" held his afternoon service. Pastor 
Van Nist, whose tombstone lies against the back 
of the Dutch Church with the record of a pastor- 
ate of only two and a half years, granted the same 
privilege on subsequent visits of Mr. Seabur3\ 

* The following illastrates the spirit which was manifested in 
the King's College controversy and is in marked contrast. A dis- 
senter wrote from ISew Jersey, Jane 3, 1752, in a letter published 
in the New York Mercury Newspaper of June 4, 1753. 

" O that the ministers of the gospel in your parts would excite 
the people to banish that rag of the whore of Babylon the Church 
of England out of your country." 

"This pious minister was inspired by the fact that the charter 
of King's College required the President to be a communicant of 
the Church of England, though a liberal institution and governed 
by Trustees of other Christian bodies, 'first men of figure and 
character.' " 




Interior of Trinity Church, 1894. 



17 

Several rooms in the Terbus house were filled 
and also the shed extending the whole length of 
the house, at the first Sunda}^ service, in which 
Mr. Seabur}^ says * ' I could not be convenientl}/- 
heard." 

''We waited long in the afternoon," says the 
Episcopal missionary, *'for the benefit of the 
Dutch Church, which we had the favor of very 
obliging^, when Divine service in the Dutch 
Church was ended: and so late was it when we 
entered the Church, that it was with difficulty I 
could conclude m^^ sermon for the approach of 
night." 

There was no attendance on the Episcopal 
service by the Dutch people ''from necessity," 
as Mr. Seabury's opponent says, after their 
regular morning service of sound doctrine from 
the Synod of Dort, the intermission exercise of 
catechizing and the afternoon service of precept 
and exhortation which those Dutch brethren 
were expected at that time to receive with 
docility and faith. The traveling was difficult 
and the roads heavy in Rombout Precinct and 
and along the Hudson further north. And yet 
at least a hundred were present at the Rev. Mr. 
Seabury's two services held on week days, ' 'when 
people do not so readily leave their business," 
in private houses, and probably not less than 
300 were gathered on Sunday in the service 
in the Dutch Church, since that is the number 
stated to have been there and also in his service 
March, 1759, " in the judgment of some of the 
most disteiaing." Mr. Seabury himself says: 



i8 

"It is well known that when I preached in the 
same place on the Sabbath in June, 1757, the 
congregation was no less crowded than at the 
first time in 1755." 

So we have an aggregate attendance of 600 
persons at four services, two of which w^ere on 
week da3^s, in the six da3^s of this first visit at 
Fishkills, and of 300 at each of his subsequent 
services in 1757, and also when the Presb3^terian 
minister preached in his ovv'n meeting in 1759. 

The difi'erent persons thus attending in these 
successive alternate ears, showed a remarkable 
interest and SA^mpath}" with the Church of Eng- 
land services in the vicinit}^ of the little village 
of Fishkills Avith its fourteen houses. But this 
was not strange, since in the Colony of New 
York alone at that time, and as earty as 1759,"^' 
the Episcopal Church Avas established b}" law in 
four Counties and no other ''Profession" had an}^ 
legal establishment in the Colony; though a re- 
ligious establishm.ent of Congregationalism was 
being strongly contended for at this time in Con- 
necticut. 

* Id 1G83 New York had one minister, Richmond two, West- 
chester tw(>, QiifH'fis two, who were appointed by the Governor, 
Council and K^pr^^seutatives and inducted by the Governor. 

In 1697 thf^r*^ wms but one Church of England Church in New 
York City, one in Boston, one in Philadelphia, one in Fort Ann 
near New York. 

In 1706 there wpre i^iven by Qneea Ann to the Churches in New 
lork, Jamaica, West Hempstead, Rye and Staten Island each, 
one large Bible, one Prayer book, one book of Homilies, cloths 
for the pulpit and communion table, one silver chalice, one sil- 
ver paten. 

Id 1745 \herf) were t-^^cDty-two Lpiscopal Churches commoQly 
filled vitb hearers. Eeporio of the V. S, P. Q. 



19 

The house of Mr. Terbus was probably the one 
destro3^ed b}^ Dr. Bartow White, who owned the 
premises now the possession of Lewis B. White, 
so that the roof which first sheltered the worship 
of Trinity Church communicants has undoubt- 
edl}^ perished, but its site ma}^ ^^et be surely 
marked if Captain Terbus and Judge Jacobus 
Terbus were of the same famih^ and resided in 
the same house. 

The Reverend Samuel Seabury, by stating 
such facts as the above quite effectual^ applied 
his Latin quotation on the title page of his 
pamphlet to his accuser. ' ' Est stulte accusare 
alterum peccati, cujus ipse est conscius." For 
this anonymous writer said of Mr. Seabury in 
the letter referred to "that the people went 
out of curiosity to hear him," "that the Dutch 
and Presbyterian ministers vv' ere both providen- 
tially absent that day," and "that b}" far the 
greater part that heard him that day deter- 
mined the}^ would never go out of their way 
to hear him again." 

* " I stayed six da}- s and preached four times 
to large assemblies," says the able and modest 
missionary, and he stayed to good effect. 

Bartholomew Nixon, who was well informed 
as to ministers and churches in this Count}^ and 
whom Mr. Seabury quoted for the authorit}^ of 
his statements, discoursed with Mr. Seabury to 

* In Fishkill and vicinity were living at this time beside those 
already mentioned, Col. John Brinckerhoff, Abram Brinckerhoff, 
Gen. Jacobus Swartwout, Peter Montfort, Goris Storm, and mem- 
bers of the Van Cortlandt, Phillips, Ver Planck, Beekman and 
Livingstone families. 



.20 



convince him that Dutchess County was a place 

proper to recommend to the charit}^ of the 
Societ3^" * ''that if a clergyman of 

ability, modest}^ and virtue could be procured 
to officiate at stated times at the Fishkills, 
Rombout Precinct, Poughkeepsie and that part 
of Nine Partners, or Crum Elbow, bounding 
on the Fishkills and Poughkeepsie, a considera- 
ble Church would be gathered, and that from 
there he believed the clerg3^man w^ould have 
occasional calls to other parts of the County." 

The responsible persons thus interested said 
that ' ' they would purchase a glebe and build a 
Church could they be assisted in the support of 
a minister." 

It does not appear whether Mr. Seabur}^ bap- 
tized on this journe}^ any adults or children, as 
as he did on subsequent visits, but otherwise 
greatty encouraged, he returned to his parish at 
Hempstead, having fully reported to the Ven- 
erable Society their condition. He was directed 
by the Society ' ' to take these poor people under 
his charge and do them Vv^hat good services he 
can consistent with his more peculiar care." 
The Societ}^ at the same time promised * ' to send 
a minister among them when the}^ should build 
a Church and purchase a glebe for his support." 

Before this was accomplished, Mr. Seabur}^ 
made similar visits to Dutchess Count}^ in 1757, 
1759 and 1 76 1. In 1757 the efforts at building a 
Church were fully reported to him by Judge 
Terbus and others, and he baptized one child of 
German Lutheran parentage. In 1759 he found 



21 

the Church people "attentive to Divine worship 
and ver}^ deserving of having it continued to 
them." In 1 76 1, in a journey to Dutchess County, 
he preached two sermons to very crowded con- 
gregations, and held services on three week 
days, and then he baptized one adult and thirt}^- 
three children. This was Mr. Seabury's last 
visit before his death. But he had in these sev- 
eral journe3^s visited Poughkeepsie, Fishkill 
Phillipsburgh, Nine Partners, Rombout, Beek- 
man's Precinct and Crum Elbow. Mention of 
these places is made in his papers, but probably 
other settlements Avere included in the list of 
this veritable circuit rider of the Anglican Church 
in the middle of the eighteenth centur};^ in the 
British Colonies of America. 

Mr. Seabury went to England in June 1763 
for surgical aid and returned the next year, *'a 
sick and d3dng man." His life ended June 15, 
1 764 by a nervous disorder and an abscess in his 
side. Long Island by the reports of the Societ3^'s 
missionaries in 1759, was ''the seat of infidelit}^" " 
and ''the acts of the Quaker enthusiasts had 
weakened the religious principles of the other 
inhabitants and made them look upon religion 
with indifference;" f yet in the twenty-one 
3^ears of his rectorship at Hempstead, he baptized 
1,071 persons, some of them b3^ immersion. He 
was thus eminently successful in bringing per- 
sons to the confession of Christ. He was self- 
forgetful in his labors, and traveling from place to 

* T. Colgan. 

t Rev. Samuel Seabury. 



place to win souls, lie thus disarmed much op- 
position. He died at the age of fifty-eight. A 
newspaper of that day said: ''He w^as a gen- 
tleman of amiable, exemplar}^ character, greath^ 
and general^ beloved and lamented;" and it 
is engraved upon his tombstone, that he ^'with 
the greatest diligence and most indefatigable 
labor performed ever3^dut3^" 

He left four sons and three daughters. One 
of his sons was a noted plwsician at Hempstead, 
L. I., and another became the first Bishop in 
America, the Right Reverend Setmuel Seabur}^ 
D. D. of Connecticut. 

The Building of T*rinity Church. 

This ancient edifice stands to-da}^ substantially 
as it originalh^ was built, with only its tow^ering 
four-decked spire and weather cock removed 
from its exterior. 

It is regarded as the oldest Episcopal Church 
building in the Count3^ and as an original struc- 
ture, one of the oldest in the State. 

With the subscription for its erection, which 
was started as earl}^ as 1756, we date the organ- 
ization of the Church as a spiritual bod}^; for the 
experimental visit of Mr. Seabur}" had devel- 
oped the purpose to build a church and establish 
worship, which was recognized b}^ the Mission- 
ary Societ}^ the same 3"ear, and certain persons 
were presumably appointed b}^ some authorit}^ 

There were said to be in 1755 22 meeting houses, mostly of 
Quakers or Separatists in the County and 11 ministers for them. 
" The Dutch Church at Poughkeepsie was not enclosed or under- 
derpinned, but standing on blocks, nor floored or preached in though 
raised for several years." — Rev. Samuel Seabury. 



Trixitv Churct-i Bef(^re t86o. 



23 

like the Church Wardens already mentioned, to 
obtain subscriptions for the church and glebe 
required. There were then no canonical laws 
of a diocese or General Convention to make any 
other organization possible. This subscription 
was reported to Mr. Seabury with the following 
interesting facts: 

''Not less than 103 persons, ten of whom are 
single, have alread}^ subscribed for the building 
of a Church for the worship of God according to 
the Liturg}^ of the Church of England." This 
was exclusive of Poughkeepsie and Crum El- 
bow, where the subscription hadnot been offered. 
The subscribers were residents on the borders 
of Beekman and Phillips Precincts. Fifty more 
persons in those places to whom a church might 
be convenient would contribute, the writer said, 
and from the encouragement given by persons 
of the best credit and influence, he believed one 
hundred more would subscribe. This was the 
condition of the enterprise before Mr. Seabur3^'s 
visit at Fishkill in 1759. He also says of these 
persons: ''They are not all professors of the 
Church of England, yet it is certain that many 
ol them are so and sundrys of them are removed 
from Hempstead, and all of them are friends of 
the Church and see the necessit}^ of encouraging- 
it. 

j udge Terbus sa3^s of them further, as quoted 
by Mr. Seabury, ' ' Sundry of the Germans (Luth= 
erans) are subscribers to the building of the 
church, and subscribe handsomely. None cf 
them liave ref;:^ed and that he ezp'ects many of 



24 

them will yet subscribe: and that some of them, 
of the leading men, have told him they can go 
to the Table i. e. the Holy Communion, Avith 
the Church of England." 

It appears from several expressions of Mr, 
Seabury, that the German Lutherans of that 
day were often associated with the Church of 
England congregations, were often communi- 
cants with them and had their children baptized 
by their ministers. In his visit in 1759 Mr. Sea- 
bur}^ sa3^s he found here that ' * the conditions of 
the Government" then engaged in the war with 
France, which ended with the capture of Quebec 
and the British subjugation of Canada, ''had 
prevented them from fulfilling their pledges to 
build a Church," but they said ''they were la- 
boring to qualify themselves for a missionar}^^ 
with all convenient speed, which nothing but 
the war prevented them from having done al- 
ready." 

In 1762 Mr. Seabury mentions other details of 
his visit, but nowhere writes of any church build- 
ing as 3^et erected. A subscription paper for the 
purchase of a glebe in some convenient place, 
in Poughkeepsie, Rombout, the Great Nine 
Partners, or Beekman bears date April 2, 1766. 
This distinctly says: "there is not any settled 
Church of England in said Count3^ b}^ which 
means public worship according to the liturgie 
of the said Church is altogether neglected." 

A cop3^ of the deed given by Matthew Brett 
to James Duncan and Richard Southard trus- 
tees, for the lot on which Trinity/ church stands 



25 ' 

containing one-half acre and thirty -one perches 
of land, is dated September 30, 1 767. The consid- 
eration named is ''two pounds in the current 
money of New York, to hold the said land to and 
for the use of the inhabitants of Rombout Pre- 
cinct in said Dutchess County who are members 
in communion of the Church of England, as by 
law established, for a cemetery and church-yard 
and for building a Church of England thereon 
and for no other use or purpose whatever." 

This deed was not recorded until Aug. loth, 
1775. It brings, however, the last probable clue 
known as to the approximate time when this 
building was erected. Without doubt some time 
elapsed after the securing of the land for settling 
the competition of the Poughkeepsie churchmen 
as to the right of collecting the subscriptions 
made and locating the first church building. It 
was therefore probably not built before 1769, 
nine years after the date 1 760, hitherto claimed 
for it, against which there is strong presump- 
tive evidence for six or seven years, Only 
some concurrent papers or letters yet to be dis- 
covered can establish the exact date. 

But this church was already in 1776, in a de- 
lapidated and neglected condition, unfit for use. 
It was barely habitable when first occupied for 
the Provincial Convention in September 1776, 
without seats or benches or other conveniences 
and so fouled by doves that it could not be com- 
fortably used at that time for an assembly on 
account of its neglected and exposed condition. 
The considerable sum Qf mo1le3^ ^^349, 4S; nd, 



26 

allowed in 1788 by the government appraisers, 
James Weeks, Isaac Van Wyck, Esqs., and Cap- 
tain Cornelius Adriance, for its use as a hospital 
for seven years during the war, was voted by the 
Vestr}^ to be when received, all expended on its 
repairs and completion, and in May 17, 1797 ^200 
were thus appropriated and Abram Wetmore 
was voted ''£10 to recompense for losses in pew- 
ing the church." 

The events most affecting the condition of the 
building were the livety disputes which evidently 
occurred over the repair or the removal of the 
tall steeple, during the rectorship of the Rev. 
Philander Chase. This steeple ran up in four 
sections and was only three feet lower than the 
steeple on the Dutch church. Abram Wetmore 
was paid los, 3d, for taking it down in 1803. 

The tow^er remained in part, but was reshaped 
in i860. The removal of the old fashioned, high- 
backed, square built pews which, with the rest 
of the interior were painted white, and also 
the hour-glass pulpit and sounding board, of 
which the crow^ning piece is before 3^ou, the cut- 
ting down of the bases of the pillars, the reseat- 
ing of the church in its present form out of the 
material of the original pews, the rebuilding 
of the chancel and vestry room, the replacing of 
this, the second altar, by the present one, were 
done between i860 and 1870, within your mem- 
or}^ who accomplished these great changes,* to 
which should be added the erection of the me- 



* Under the directioQ of Isaac E . Cotbeal, Oliver W. Barnes and 

J. D. Foiiqnet, Esquires. 



27 

morial window in the chancel by many sub- 
scribers,'^ and the memoiial gifts in the chancel 
and upon the altar which are before you from a 
number of individuals. 

The last material improvement has been the 
building of the rectory. The building commit- 
tee who superintended its erection in 1892 con- 
sisted of Samuel Verplanck, Sylvanus M. Da- 
vidson and John D. Fouquet. Subscriptions for 
it were largely obtained by the women of Trin- 
ity parish, aided by the special efforts of S. M. 
Davidson, who has been the efficient treasurer 
and clerk of the Vestry for thirteen years, and 
John D. Fouquet, who made and donated the plans 
and specifications of the house. This under- 
taking was made possible by the use of an in- 
vested church fund of $1,500, the gift of the rec- 
tory lot by Miss Catharine E. Cotheal, and the 
larger contributions of Mr. Samuel Verplanck 
and his late lamented wife Anna S. Rodgers V er- 
planck, to which others within and beyond the 
parish added liberal gifts. 

History of Trinity Church During the 
American Revolution. 

From 1764 until 1777 was an eventful period in 
the development of the Episcopal Church in this 
region through the efficient labors of the second 
missionary, the Rev. John Beardsley A. M., who 
became the first rector of Trinit}^ Church, Fish- 
kill, and of Christ Church, Poughkeepsie. It is 
singular that so little has been known hitherto 
of his rectorship. The reports of the Venerable 
* Through the efforts of Mies Glorvina Bartow. 



28 

Society, and the accounts in the famil}^ records 
kindly sent to me"^ onl}^ imperfectly present the 
character and work of this remarkable man. He 
probably carried away with him to New York 
and Nova Scotia, when a persecuted political 
prisoner and refugee, the papers which would 
reveal him to us and also a deeply interesting 
portion of the history of this church. Mr. 
Beardsley's ancestor on his father's side, William 
and his wife Mar}^ Beardsle}^ came from London 
in 1635. Mr. Beardsle}^ was a prominent deput}^ 
during man}^ sessions of the General Court of 
Connecticut from 1645 and subsequentl}^ became 
a large land holder and a freeman of Massachu- 
setts. He died in 1661. Since he was thus 
connected with the colony of Massachusetts he 
must have been a very moderate Churchman, 
but his descendants at Stratford in Connecti- 
cut, were earnest supporters of the Church of 
England. 

The Rev. John Beardsle}^ was born April 23, 
1732, in the fourth generation from the founder 
of the Beardsley famil}^ in America. He was 
connected with Yale College in 1758 and enrolled 
as graduated in 1762, though he had the degrees 
of A. B. andiV. M. from King's College New York 
in 1 76 1 and 1768. He went to England for Holy 
Orders in 1761 at a period when one third of 
those who sought this ordination perished b}^ the 
perils of the vo3^age or hj smallpox contracted in 
England. He returned with an appointment 
from the Venerable Society to Norwich, Connect- 
* By the Eev. W. A. Beardsley, of New Haven, Conn. 



Trinity Rectory, Erected 1892 



i 



29 

icut, where he remained for five years until he 
came to Poughkeepsie and Fishkill, having ac- 
cepted the charge here Oct, 26th, 1766. Proba- 
bly while at Norwich he married Sylvia, daugh- 
ter of the Rev. Ebenezer Punderson, who was the 
first missionary of the Societ}^ at New Haven. 
She was the mother of his five children. Mr. 
Beardsle3^'s position here from the ver}^ first was 
extremely tr3dng and difficult, and yet under his 
ministr}^ Trinity church was built at Fishkill and 
Christ church at Poughkeepsie, a proof of effi- 
cienc3^ of strong character, and of wise and faith- 
ful administration which was hardly surpassed 
by any rector of those times. His salar}^ from the 
Societ}^ in 1769 was only ^35 when there was 
given the same 3^ear in salaries to eight3' -three 
missionaries of the Venerable Society in North 
America the sum of ^4680, 13s 8d. The act of 
Parliament passed in the 3^ear 1 764, imposing tax- 
ation on the colonies had been repealed March 
18, 1766, shortly before he took this charge. 

We well know that the effect of that taxation 
had been violent discussion, protest, and disloyal 
evasion. Patriotic associations had been formed 
all over the countr3^ especially in the Nev^ Eng- 
land colonies and in New York. The advocacy 
in Parliament b3^ Camden and Pitt of the rights 
of the colonists had aided in making sentiment 
intense on this side of the Atlantic. Violence was 
threatened. Some feared Great Britain. Many 
still loved the mother countr3^ and their con- 
sciences were with ''the powers that be." These 
combined with the colonial and custom house 



3^ 

authorities to sustain the King. 

But the repeal of the stamp act at the petition 
of the colonists onl}^ more securel}^ fastened hy 
its language the absolute authority of Great 
Britain over them. Sentiment was divided in 
the churches of the land. There were many to 
counsel obedience. The dissenting clergy gen- 
erall}^ exerted a powerful influence against Par- 
liament. But most of those who were in the 
Church of England felt the}^ were bound b}^ their 
oaths of office to allegiance to the King. It was 
harder for them than for others to turn their 
sympathies against England and they naturally 
exerted their personal influence for her. 

The reports of the Venerable Societ}^ say that 
the clergy amid this scene of tumult and disor- 
der went on steadily with their duty, in their 
sermons conforming to the doctrine of the 
gospel without touching on politics, and using 
their influence to allay heats and cherish a spirit 
of lo3^alty among the people. This conduct gave 
great offense to the flaming patriots who laid it 
down as a maxim that those who were not for 
them were against them. The clergy were 
'*every where threatened, often reviled, some 
times treated with brutal violence." ''Some were 
carried prisoners by armed mobs into distant 
provinces and much insulted without any crime 
being alleged against them, some flung into jail 
for frivolous suspicions of plots of which even 
their accusers afterward acquitted them. ' ' These 
clergymen were persons who had made great 
sacrifices for conforming to the Church, and being 



31 

actuated by the highest motives were such as 
exerted a much larger influence than their 
numbers would mdicate. Ihey checked for a 
long time the spread of disloyalt}^ It is dis- 
tinctly stated that the dissenting clerg}^ made the 
abolition of the Church of England one of their 
principal objects, but all the Society's mission- 
aries up to Oct. 31, 1776 in New York, New Eng- 
land and New Jersey remained faithful, lo3^al 
subjects, so far as could be learned by Rev. C. 
Inglis, the last who remained in New^ York 
City, Yet one fourth of the eighth-three mis- 
sionaries of the Societ}^ were brought up dissent- 
ers. 

The abandonment of New York Province b}^ 
the King's troops made the situation of the clergy 
particularly dangerous, for the}^ w^ere peculiarly 
the objects of dissenters' env3^and hatred. Some 
were pulled out of the reading desk because the}^ 
pra^'ed for the king, and that before independ- 
ence was declared. Others Avere fined for not ap- 
pearing at militia musters with their arms. 
Some had their houses plundered, others ere 
shot at on their rides to make visitations and offi- 
ciate at services. "Were every instance of the 
kind collected, the sufferings of the American 
clerg}" would not appear inferior in many respects 
to the sufferings of the English clergy in the 
great rebellion of the seventeenth centur3^" 

The declaration of independence b}^ Congress in 
1776 increased the embarassment of the clergy. 
To officiate publicl}^ and not pray for the King 
and royal family, according to the liturgy, was 



32 

against their dut}^ and their oath as well as their 
consciences. Yet to use the prayers would have 
drawn inevitable destruction upon them. The 
only course to avoid both evils was to shut up 
their churches. This was done in most instances 
in the provinces already mentioned. New York 
was the most loyal and peaceable of them and 3^et 
the scene of the war and suffered the most. But 
it is to be remembered that the most patriotic 
upholders of the American revolution and the 
most eminent of the signers of the Declaration 
of Independence and the most illustrious of the 
officers of the American' arm}^ of the Revolution, 
Vv' ere communicants or supporters of the Church 
of England in this country. Virginia gave to 
the cause of the Revolution Patrick Henry, 
Washington and Jefferson, who were churchmen 
as vv^ell as patriots. So were Richard Henry 
Lee, and fifty-five of the signers of the declara- 
tion of independence, and tvfo-thirds of the 
framers of the constitution of the United States. 
Itwas the clergy of this Church who were most 
affected by their peculiar obligations and duties 
and placed in the most painful situations. 

What a period were therefore the ten years from 
1766 to 1776 to such ministers as John Beards- 
ley, rejoicing as he did at the repeal of the stamp 
act at the beginning of his solitary rectorship in 
Dutchess Count}^ ! He felt deepl}^ that the re- 
action against the reassertion of unlimited au- 
thority was ungrateful. 

Public events during this ministr}^ made the 
i:;c3itiGn of rector still more diSScult for a man 



like Mr. Beardsley, a loyalist, or tory"ashe was 
probabty now called. Such events were the 
massacre in King Street, Boston, on the fifth of 
March 1770, and the acquittal of the British sol- 
diers who perpetrated it ; while the speeches of 
Hancock, Warren and others at succeeding anni- 
versaries of this cruel act continued the agita- 
tion; the Boston harbor **tea fight" Dec. 16, 1773, 
the enactment of the Boston Port Bill, the arri- 
val of General Gates, the battles of Lexingfon 
and of Bunker Hill in 1775. These flagrant acts 
and stirring events set men into deeper hatred 
especialty against those who taught by their 
worship, obedience and lo3^alty. They were in- 
deed thorns in the hands of patriots with which to 
pierce the ministers and adherents to Great Brit- 
ain's authority who, before independence was 
declared, had remained faithful in their churches, 
to their vows and pra3^ers. How could there be 
progress in the affairs of Trinity Church and 
Christ Church during these unhappy times ! And 
yet in 1 769 this church building, large and statel}^ 
for that period was erected, and Christ Church, 
a spacious stone building at Poughkeepsie, was 
built in 1774, under Mr. Beardsle3^'s ministry, in 
a time when it was accounted highly criminal 
to prevent a friend to Great Britain from starving. 
Mr. Beardsley remained loyal to the King and 
refused to take the oath of allegiance to the Col- 
onies when the war of the Revolution at last be- 
gan. Certainly he had the courage of his con- 
victions so much praised when we sympathize 
with the convictions. 



34 

Fishkill was then a more important place 
than Poughkeepsie. There were 502 out of 762 
freeholders in Rombout Precinct who signed the 
patriotic association papers of ' 'the Sons of Lib- 
erty," Poughkeepsie had 213 out of 295, who 
professed thus to be patriots. The Fishkill 
women were not less patriotic, for they sold the 
confiscated tea of a New York alderman, stored 
here, for six shillings a pound for the benefit of 
the suffering soldiers in the barracks. The im- 
portance of Fishkill and vicinity increased 
during the war. So did the number of its pa- 
triots. There were fifty houses here in the 
space of two miles. The Committee of Safety 
had its meetings here. ' Here was the principal de- 
pot of the American army. Here were maga- 
zines and hospitals, workshops, the public de- 
pots of treasure and state papers and handsome 
large barracks yonder under the mountain and 
on the plain. Here the troops were gathered, 
sick and well and many destitute of clothing. 
The hospitals overflowed. There were 1 768 sick 
men in them at one time. Trinit}^ church was 
filled and crowded with the suffering. The 
Presb3^terian church, since destroA^ed b}^ fire, 
was also temporarily used for them. The wounded 
from the battle of White Plains were laid along 
these streets: even the dead were piled here be- 
tween Trinity and the Dutch church building, 
and some were buried in the church-3^ard. The 
Van Wyck, now the ''Wharton" house, was the 
headquarters of General Putnam, while Wash- 
ington's headquarters w^as five miles above at 



35 

Col. John Brinckerlioff's mansion. But such il- 
lustrious Generals as Washington, Putnam, Steu- 
ben, x\nthony Wayne, and La Fayette, who was 
long sick at Abram Brinckerhoff's house, were 
often sojourners with Putnam in this cottage 
still commanding an uninterrupted view of this 
lovely Cold Spring Gap and the Fishkill Valle}^ 
Here also John Bailey, in his cutler's shop, 
forged swords for some of these officers and even 
one for General Washington. Three earth-work 
forts in yonder gap protected the army and the 
sick, the Hudson was closed below the High- 
lands, the Fishkill Mountains were a solid ram- 
part to make this village a place of safet}^ 
Within a stone's throw of Trinit}^ church, at the 
house of Isaac Van Wyck ; Samuel Loudon, driven 
from New York, printed ''The Fishkill Packet," 
the official army orders, and the first State Con- 
stitution of New York, adopted in 1777, and 
there he also kept the post office for the State 
of New York, with a mail by post riders from 
Boston on Wednesda}^ evening, and from New 
London on Saturday evening. 

The Provincial Convention met under this roof, 
and enrolled names to become famous in Amer- 
ican histor\^ Philip Livingston, Lewis Morris, 
Pierre Van Cortlandt, Leonard Gansevoort, Gen- 
eral John Morris Scott, Robert Van Rensselaer, 
James Duncan, Robert R. Livingston, and John 
Ja}^ the first Chief Justice of the United States. 

The Committee of Safety held their meetings 
here, watched and worked for the desperate 
cause of the Revolution. These arrested at last 



36 

John Beardsle}^ because he was a loyalist and a 
clerg37^man of that stripe was dangerous to them ; 
they sent him therefore to New York. He 
had imperilled the support of his family, for he 
did not conceal his sentiments. His propert}^ 
was confiscated. His famil3^ destitute as him- 
self, took refuge in Ncav York Cit3^ Dec. i6, 
1777, when it was in the possession of the British 
army. Some others who had been associated 
with him in Trinity Church must have gone 
with him. Among them a prominent commu- 
nicant Beverly Robinson, who afterward com- 
manded the lo3'al regi'ment of w^hich Rev. Mr. 
Beardsle3^ was appointed Chaplain in 1778. 
After the war was ended he went with this reg- 
iment to the Province of New" Brunswick, and 
with his family suffered man3^ deprivations 
there. He erected a shelter at Parr in St. John's 
harbor where were five hundred refugees, and 
where he w^as the first minister. From there he 
made excursions up the river and became rector 
of an Episcopal Church in Maugerville in 1784-5, 
one of the four missions partl37^ supported by the 
Government of the Province. His congregation 
was respectable and orderl3^ and composed of 
people of different denominations who had been 
stripped of their all b3^ the rebellion. He was 
much esteemed b3^ this people, as a man of merit 
such as the missions needed. They made his 
situation comfortable. The Governor from a 
government grant of £2,000, gave ^500 to aid in 
building a new church for his congregation at 
Maugerville, and another church at Burton, N. 



B., one of his out stations. He retained his 
connection with the regiment as chaplain, and 
extended his ministrations to other settlements. 
In 1787 he baptized 79 persons, and in one-half 
3^ear of 1789 he baptized 144 persons, through his 
ndelit}^ in visiting outlying posts and extreme 
points of his parish. He had 63 communicants 
in his church in 1802, and the Governor and his 
successors had a canopied pew constructed for 
them in the Maugerville church, the main build- 
ing of which was original^ built 56 x 32 feet in 
size. 

Here he remained more than 1 7 years, till in- 
capacitated by age, he retired on half pa}^ as 
chaplain in 1802, to Kingston, in that Province, 
and died there on his birth-da}^ in i8io,"''' at the 
age of 78 A^ears. 

Of Mr. Beardsley's sons there were man}^ de- 
scendants living on the St. John's River. One 
of them, Bartholomew Crannel, became a dis- 
tinguished law3^er and Chief Judge of the Court 
of Common Pleas, and a member of several Pro- 
vincial Assemblies, He died in 1855. Another 
graduating from Union College New York, was 
a Judge in Michigan, and afterward an ordained 
clerg3^man of the Episcopal Church, and died at 
Waverty, N. Y., in January, 1863. Another son 
died while a member of the Provincial Assembly 
of Nevv^ Brunswick. Thus God showed covenant 
mercies unto the third generation to this mis- 
sionary rector of Trinity and Christ Churches, 
who was faithful to his trusts. 

*The Church of England in New Brunswick, page 79. 



3S 

In the tirst General Convention of 1 785 there 
was present from Dutchess County, Mr. John 
Davis. In the convention of 1787, Elbert Wil- 
let, Jr. , sat as a representative of Trinity Church, 
Fishkills. In the convention of 1779 were the 
Rev. Mr. Van Dyck of Poughkeepsie, rector of 
Christ Church and Trinity Church Fishkills, and 
Mr. Peter Mesier as delegate. 

A strange link unites the histor}^ of Trinit}^ 
Church with a tragic event of two hundred and 
fifty 3^ears ago, in the life of one who may have 
been a worshiper in the first services of Trinity 
Church, conducted by the Rev. Samuel Seabur3^ 
A silver flagon stands on our altar, given by an 
eminent Wardenof Trinity church in 1820, Gulian 
C. Ver Planck, Esq., in memorial of one of the 
life guards of the Prince of Orange, afterwards 
King William III of England, who died with an 
unblemished reputation in Fishkill at the very 
advanced age of one hundred and twenty-eight 
years. A current notice of his death in the Gen- 
tleman's Magazine, published in London, in the 
issue of March, 1765, reads thus, in the volume 
I hold in my hand. 

''Mr. Edgelbert Hoff diedat Fishkill near New 
York aged 128. He was born in Norwa}^ and 
could remember that he was a lad driving a team 
when the news was brought to his countrv that 
King Charles the first had been beheaded. He 
served as a soldier under the Prince of Orange 
in the time of James the second." 

So the fellowship of Trinity Church runs back 
not onl}^ to the Church of England under the 




Christ Ciiurch, Poughkeepsie, 1893. 



39 

House of Stuarts, but by other successive links 
to the chain through France and Ephesus, that 
binds us to the Apostles and brings us to the 
touch of our Lord Himself, when he said " Re- 
ceive 3^e the Hoty Ghost." 

We have at considerable length and detail on 
this occasion regarded the planting and early 
training of this now wide-spreading vine of the 
Episcopal Church in Dutchess Count}^ It would 
take much longer time to narrate v/hat came of 
this planting, in the ministr}^ of nineteen rectors 
in Trinity Church in 140 3^ears, with a record of 
frequent changes and vacancies in the rector- 
ship, unfavorable to its best growth and faithful- 
ness. 

But some names among these have been hon- 
orabty known in education, in the Church and 
in literature, like the Right Reverend Philander 
Chase, S. T. D., LL. D., Bishop of Ohio, from 
1 819 to 1 83 1, the presiding Bishop of the Amer- 
ican Church from 1843 to 1852. He founded 
and was President of the Theological Seminary 
and Kenyon College Gambler, Ohio, and also 
Jubilee college in Illinois. He was elected Bis- 
hop of Illinois in 1835, ^^^^ organized the work 
of that diocese which was under him admitted 
to union with the General Convention. 

There were also noted classical scholars and 
authors, the Rev. Christian F. Cruse, D. D., of 
whom Dr. Muhlenberg said in a sense of his 
own bereavement of such companionship, '*A 
philosopher, a saint and a sage has passed away 
Gulian C. Ver Planck, Esq., a Warden at the 



40 

same time of Trinity Church in New York, 
while holding that office here, best known in his 
literar}^ association with Washington Irving, 
and as one of the foremost American Shakes- 
pearian scholars and critics of his time; the 
Rev. F. W. Shelton, an author of fine literary 
taste and imagination; the lamented J. H. Ho- 
bart, D. D., a former minister of Trinit}" Church, 
New York. To these could be added the names 
of other devout ministers like the Rev. William 
B. Thomas who was rector in the first quarter 
of the present centur^^ and the Rev. John Brown 
who made 3^our centennial address; and those 
whom you remember to have heard of or known 
and loved for their fidelit}^ and churchmanship 
in later years. Rev. R. B. Van Kleeck, D. D., 
and the Rev. John R. Livingston. 

But the branches of this vine have multiplied 
beyond the original stock to twent3^-nine churches 
in Dutchess Count3^ — so man^^ that they cannot 
be here named. Christ Church of Poughkeepsie, 
one of the most important in the great diocese 
of New York, was nearh^ a twin planting, and 
nurtured b}^ the samie ministry as Trinit}^ for 
nearh^ fift}^ 3^ears; Zion Church of Wappingers 
Falls, of which Peter Mesier long a Warden of 
Trinit3^ was one of the founders; St. Stephen's 
College and other Institutions are indeed its 
fruitful shoots. Eminent law3^ers, doctors, teach- 
ers and ministers, and goodty men and women in 
every station have been the rich clusters of this 
vine in Dutchess Count3^ But with all these, 
it is with most becoming congratulations we can 



4i 

iiame two of the most distinguished Bishops of 
the Church, the Rt. Rev. Horatio Potter, D. D., 
LL. D. , Bishop of New York from 1854 to 1887, ^nd 
theRt. Rev. Alonzo Potter, D. D., LL. D., Bishop 
of Pennsylvania from 1845 i^^S^ both brothers 
born in Beekman, now La Grange, Dutchess 
County, and the son of the latter our own be- 
loved and venerated Bishop Henr}^ Codman 
Potter, D. D., L L. D., who also originated in the 
precinct included within the first missionary 
limits of Trinity Church, Fishkill. 

Some of the names above mentioned are en- 
graven in our church-yard; some in the military 
or civic records of our country. Others are for- 
gotten who were equally God-fearing and have 
passed to their reward. Some are still bearing- 
life's burdens and toiling in the heat of the day. 
But in all its history past and present, the pur- 
pose and prayer of Trinity Church finds expres- 
sion in the words now to stand henceforth over 
this vestibule, where we enter for worship: 



PRO DEO ET PATRIA. 



4^ 

Rectors of Trinity Church. 

Rev. Samuel Seabury, M. A., Missionary, 
1855 to 1761. 

Rev. John Beardsley, 1766 to 1778. 

Rev. Henry Van Dyck, Nov. 10, 1790. 

Rev. Philander Chase, Dec. 7, 1799 to Nov. 
1805. 

Rev. Barzillai Buckley, 1807 to 1809. 
Rev. John Brown, Sept, 28, 181 2 to Dec. 6, 
1815. 

Rev. P. S. TenBroech, Dec. 15, 1 816 to 181 8. 
Rev. William B. Thomas, Dec. 25, 1821 to 
1827. 

Rev. R. B. VanKleeck, Aug. i, 1833 to 1835. 
Rev. J. L. Watson, Nov. 9, 1835 to 1836. 
Rev. C. A. Foster, Sept. i, 1837 to 1838. 
Rev. R. L. Burnham, Feb. i, 1838 to 1841. 
Rev. R. Shaw, April 2, 1841 to 1842. 
Rev. W. H. Hart, June 11, 1843 to 1845. 
Rev. C. F. Cruse, April i, 1846 to 185 1. 
Rev. F. W. Shelton, Nov. 2, 1852 to 1854. 
Rev. J. R, Livingston, Aug. 9, 1855 to 1878. 
Rev. J. H. Hobart, May 29, 1879 to 1889. 
Rev. J. M. Chew, 1889 to 1891. 
Rev. H. O. Ladd, 1891. 
Officers of Trinity Church, 1894-5. 
Rector, Rev. Horatio Oliver Ladd, M. A. 
Wardens, Adriance Bartow, 

Samuel Verplanck. 
Vestrymen, Oliver W. Barnes, 

Sylvanus M. Davidson, Clerk and Treasurer, 
John D. Fouquet, 

William T. Blodgett, 




Trinity Church, Fishkill, N. Y., 1894. 



i 



43 



iKUbiii<-tjfe. 


WHEN Jj IRST HtLiLL LiLD. 


Duncan, James ] 




J- Original, 


1767. 


Southard, Kicnard ) 




Cooke, John 


1/8q. 


Halstead, John 




Terboss, Daniel 




Cooper, Jeremiah 


a 


Snyder, Benjamin 


a 


Green, Jeremiah 




Pine, Philip 




Cooper, James 


*i 


Halstead, Jonas 


u 


Davis, Richard 




Emott, William 


i-i 


Noxon, Robert 


a 


Prechard, James 


/ u 


Balding, Isaac Jr. 




Badger, Ebenezer 




Mesier, Peter 


1/86. 


Wiiiett, JLibert Jr. 


a 


Alger, William B. 




van voomib, jacoo 


1 tOo. 


iMilis, nobert 


ii 


Vail, Isaac 


ii 


Pine, Sylvanus 




oouunarQ, jonn xx. 




WARDENS. 


When First Electld. 


Terbos, Jacobus 


1771. 


Green, Joseph 




Halstead. John 


1785. 


Terbos, Daniel 


it 


Mesier, Peter 


1796. 


Cooper, James 




Ver Planck, Daniel C. 


1802. 



44 

Mesier, Matthew 
Street, Greenleaf 
Bartow, William A. 
Ver Planck, Gulian C. 
Cotheal, Isaac E. 
Bartow, Alexander 
Bartow, Adriance 
Ver Planck, Samuel 

VESTRYMEN. 

Southard, Zebulon 
Gary, Joseph 
Halstead, John 
Pyre, Thomas 
Carmin, John T. 
Green, Jeremiah 
Snider, Benjamin 
Southard, John R. 
Mills, Robert 
Street, Greenleaf 
Poyar, Thomas 
Ver Planck, Daniel C. 
Cooper, Joseph 
Thorn, Obadiah 
Gorwis, John F. 
Poyar, Thomas 
Wood, James 
Rogers, Benjamin 
Budd, Gilbert 
Mesier, Matthew 
Budd. Underbill 
Wetmore, Abraham 
White, John 
Long, Thomas C. 
Pine, Sylvanus 
Thorne, Benjamin 



1804. 
1834. 
1839. 
1846. 
1870. 
1871. 
1877. 
1885. 

When First Elected. 
1771. 

a 



1796. 

ii 
u 
ii 
ii 



1797 



1798. 

ii 

1800. 
1801. 

ii 



1802. 

ii 

1804. 
1808. 
181L 



45 



feoutbard, Kichard D. 


loio. 


Allen, William 


ii 


Weeks, Abraham 


u 


Mesier, Abraham 


1817. 


Hatch, Abijah 


1819. 


Lampson, Nathaniel 


1820. 


Oppie, James W. 


1823. 


Golet, Thomas B. 


1824. 


Uhl, John 


1825. 


Shurman W. 


1828. 


Ver Planck, James Delancey 


1831. 


Weeks, Samuel 




Mesier, Henrj^ 


1832. 


Rogers, Elijah 


1833. 


Monfort, James P. 


1834. 


Rogers, Absolam 


a 


Carman, Joshua 




Fenn, James M. 


1835. 


Barroughs. Robert 




Ladue, Thomas 




Ver Planck, Gulian C. 


1836. 


Street, George S. 




Yer Planck, Willian 


1838. 


Addington W. 




Styles, Curtis 


1839. 


Fowler, Charles 


1840. 


Mum, Henry 


1845. 


Ver Planck, Samuel 




Bartow, William 


1846. 


Jackson, Charles A. 




Plum, Charles 


1851. 


Bartow, George A, 


1855. 


Bartow, Charles E. 


-4.4 


Boyce, Dewitt 




Bartow, Alexander 


1857. 



46 



( yothfial Isaac E 


1858. 


SoaiTian AVilliam 




Ay mar, Benjamin 


1860. 


Avmar Edmund B 


1861 


Verplanck, W. S. 


1865. 


Bartow Charlfts A 


u 


Varick C 


ii 


Bar how AdririncB 


1866. 


Bartow C E 


1869. 


FouQuet J D 




Barnes Oliver W 


1870. 


Cotheal TTenrv Tj 




Conklin W J " 


1872. 


Sleight, Frank 




.To h n sto n Bolie I't 

\J XX xxij \J\J xx^ ^\J\JhJ\jx. \J 


1874. 


Andrews James Wati-ion 


1876. 


Wood, Isaac 


1877. 


Bartow, DuBois 


1878. 


Gildersleeve, Isaac B. 




Bartow, Moncure 


1879. 


Verplanck, Samuel 


1881. 


Davidson, S. M. 


1884. 


Marsh, R. H. 


1885. 


Blodgett, William T. 


1894. 



>::>>33 



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